Ricky Callahan

Name: Ricardo "Ricky" Callahan Gender: Male Age: Seventeen [17] Grade: Junior [11th] School: Franklyn Senior High School Homeroom: Mr. Duana's Homeroom 11C Hobbies and Interests: Varsity Baseball; Quiz Bowl; Honors Club; Spanish Club

Appearance: Somewhat tall, Ricky stands at about 5'10" and is of average weight. He has a slightly muscular body, just enough from working out, but he is no mass of muscles. His skin is a dark tan in color, showing a line of Hispanic heritage on his mother's side. He has dark black hair, kept short and clean cut, with short bangs that he gels and brushes downward onto the tip of his forehead. His eyebrows are full but well-groomed, they run straight to a point and then arch downward slightly. His eyes are a dark brown in color. In terms of other facial features, Ricky has nothing particularly distinguishing about him. He rarely smiles, but has nice teeth when he does crack a grin. Never one to try for the "bad boy" look, Ricky has no distinguishing tattoos or piercings. He is a handsome young man, and strives to achieve that appearance. Ricky's problem is that he is pretty much socially inept. In terms of dress, Ricky's got one particular outfit that he makes it a point to wear at least once a week. Said outfit consists of a red Adidas jersey with the number "30" on the front, a white shirt underneath, a pair of slightly baggy jeans, and a red and white pair of Nike Shox.

Biography: Born the eldest of two boys to the couple of Richard and Selena Callahan, Ricky had always been the so-called golden child of the family. From a young age onward, he showed a lot of potential in academics. He was very bright and caught onto things very quickly. Of course, this encouraged his parents to enroll him in Gifted and Talented programs, which he excelled at. Even from adolescence, Ricky's intellect was superior to that of his peers. Unfortunately, in elementary school, this made him the object of a lot of bullying. People picked on him for being smart, but Ricky simply shrugged it off as them being jealous of his intelligence. He lead a pretty uneventful childhood, even middle school was pretty boring.

Around seventh grade, Ricky discovered the joys of baseball, something he had not had time for as a child because his parents pushed him too hard in his studies. To put it bluntly, Ricky was a terrible baseball player at first, but he enjoyed the sport, and he figured that all he could do was put his best foot forward. Throughout Junior High, he played, and as he entered high school, he gradually started to improve. Suddenly, though, his father was asked to relocate for his new job. This sent any social life that Ricky and younger brother Matt might have had into a tailspin, and they were forced to pack up and move to a new town.

Upon moving to New Jersey, Ricky transferred into Franklyn Senior High School. The pathetic excuse of a social life that he had known back home in Montana had been destroyed, and Ricky found it somewhat difficult to make friends at this new school. Instead, he emersed himself in his studies once again. However, when he tried out for the baseball team and made it by the skin of his teeth, he finally started to make a few friends. The baseball players were nice guys, and Ricky liked hanging out with them. Although they constantly harassed him about his status of "benchwarmer" on the team, Ricky took it all in good faith.

Ricky joined a couple of different clubs such as Quiz Bowl and the Honors Club to pass the time. Also, he was somewhat of an egotist and liked to show that he was smarter than most of the kids at school. Despite his rather large ego, Ricky is a nice kid. He has a good personality, and he can be quite the character at times. Hanging around with the baseball players has changed his attitude slightly, and he can sometimes come off as a pompous jerk, but it is purely unintentional. Most of the time, if Ricky is mean to anyone, it is because of pressure that has been put on him by the other baseball boys.

Lately, the baseball boys have been insistent that Ricky find himself a girlfriend -- or as Eric puts it, a "good lay". Truth be told, he hasn't really looked. After all, before he made the baseball team this year he was "that quiet, nerdy kid". Even if he was good looking. At least, he thought he was pretty good looking. Most girls were not attracted to the quiet, smart kid in their class. In fact, it seemed as if Ricky was two different people. One person in class and a different one around the baseball boys.

Recently, his status as the Callahan's "golden child" has been put in serious jeopardy. Matt Callahan, the same Matt Callahan who used to cling to Ricky's arm, follow him around relentlessly, and aspire to be just like him, has grown into his own in more ways than one. Matt just recently started playing football for Franklyn Senior, and has already run his way up the ranks to the point that he'll be on the starting line-up if he decides to play next season. In addition, his book smarts have gone through the roof recently, and Ricky finds that his little brother is all of a sudden outdoing him in the grades department. Needless to say, Ricky's a bit jealous of this fact and often feels as though his brother flaunts his newfound achievements over him.

Ricky's attitude toward his brother, as well as the reserved and anti-social attitude he takes around a certain girl he's formed quite the crush on and his ever obedient attitude toward fellow baseballer Eric Silvstedt all stem from Ricky being a very insecure individual. He's laid-back and easy-going in some sense, but he's also terrified of being disliked or rejected. This makes him the perfect pawn most of the time, as he never seems to stand up for himself and oftentimes will follow orders without question, even if he disagrees with the actions being taken.

Ricky was recently kicked off the premises of Benson's Bar and Grill after a fight erupted between Matthias Kovalenko and Eric Silvstedt at the diner. Although Ricky attempted to stop the fight, he was simply regarded as an accomplice, and after being publicly humiliated in front of the girl he liked, Ricky thought it best to leave the area, and quickly. He was approached by a police officer soon after and, in a true act of friendship, lied to the officer on behalf of Eric. Eric never so much as thanked Ricky for this selfless action, and Ricky often ridicules himself for such a deed in the back of his mind.

Ricky's home life and his relationship to his parents have grown more and more strained over the course of the time that has expired since their move. Ricky's father isn't around much these days -- always off at work, staying late at the office, going off to conferences and whatnot -- and although his mother has resigned herself to the life of the domestic housewife, Ricky rarely sees her due to always being away at baseball practice or out with friends. His mother is a very devoted individual, always attending all of her son's baseball games, even if he doesn't get to play, and she's very supportive by nature. Despite this, Ricky has a hard time opening up to his mother about things, and more often than not, he's a complete pushover when it comes to her.

Perhaps his insecurities with himself, as well as his easily controlled and manipulated attitude are what make Ricky virtually socially inept. He could almost be considered shy, although it's a trait that many people neglect to notice because he's constantly surrounded by friends. When he's alone, Ricky worries about the things he says and how stupid they seem to make him look to the point that he doesn't speak much. He also has problems standing up for himself, a personality flaw that was illustrated particularly well during the incident at Benson's where the girl he liked mistook his standing up for her friend as him bullying her friend. Rather than attempting to defend himself, Ricky simply let the entire situation go and walked away. This tends to be his attitude toward most things, and because of this he unintentionally conveys a pompous, arrogant, and self-absorbed attitude that is not signature of the real Ricky Callahan.

Advantages: Ricky's a very intelligent individual and always scored top marks throughout school. Although his grades have declined with time, mostly due to his own self-confidence, Ricky's still very intelligent. He's not a particularly intimidating physical specimen, but he could hold his own in a fight if need be. Although he's made a couple enemies courtesy of the baseball boys, Ricky didn't really interact with many of his classmates and thusly hasn't formed too many enemies.

Disadvantages: Ricky hates confrontation, and generally avoids it by not speaking up for himself and bending to the will of others. If he retains this personality trait throughout the game, he might wind up unwittingly becoming someone else's meatshield. He has very low self-confidence and often criticizes and ridicules himself over trivial matters. If he starts second-guessing himself in the game, it could lead to an early demise.

Number: Male Student no. 27

---

Designated Weapon: Slingshot Conclusions: As much as I despise drawing a conclusion to any of the pathetic weasels that lost out in our first competition, I find it almost sad to say: B27, meet Gilbert Archambault. Seems that Ricky doesn't exactly like any kind of confrontation, and one might call him an escapist. The REAL interesting thing will be seeing how Ricky takes it when he figures out that there is NO escape...

'The above biography is as written by Megami. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.'

Evaluations
Kills: 2; Eric Silvstedt, himself

Killed by: Suicide

Collected Weapons: Slingshot (issued weapon), Chain Whip (from Gail Smith)

Allies: Gail Smith, Jackie Kovacs, John Matthews, Kayla Ravoy, Whitney Acosta

Enemies: Although his best friend Eric Silvstedt attempted to kill him, Ricky never really considered him an enemy.

Mid-game Evaluation: Ricky's game began at the cliffs on the eastern side of the island, where the hispanic boy went into deep contemplation. Upon hearing the resounding gunshots resulting from Jonathan Michaels killing Chad Munteanu, Ricky was off in search of his friends -- and in search of a way to bring down the game and regain his freedom. His journey first lead him to the mountain ranch, where he encountered the duo of Jackie Kovacs and Gail Smith. Gaining the trust and aid of the two proved fairly easy, and they even managed to pick up another face in the form of John Matthews before proceeding down the expressway. On the expressway, Ricky suggested that the group stop and rest until nightfall, and then head to the residential district in search of useful things the terrorists might've left behind. The residential area proved to be a fairly uneventful place at first. Ricky's search for supplies quickly lead him into a currently occupied house, which lead to a chance encounter with Kayla Ravoy. As it turned out, Jackie and Kayla had homeroom together, and seemed to know each other well enough. After this revelation, Ricky once again set off to look for supplies, but nothing could prepare him for what he'd find.

Others were lurking in the residential district as well, one of whom just happened to be Ricky's best friend, Eric Silvstedt. Ricky happened upon Eric just in time to witness Eric mercilessly attacking a very special girl. In a heroic but ignorant move, Ricky stepped in, trying to protect Whitney as well as calm his best friend down. Harsh words inevitably escalated into a brawl between Ricky and Eric, and Eric Silvstedt inevitably fell to his own makeshift spear. Eric's death, and the fact that it was done by Ricky's own hand, would be an event that would continue to weigh on Ricky Callahan for the rest of his time on the island. At Whitney's suggestion, he agreed to return to the group of friends he'd left a short distance nearby.

End-game Evaluation:

Memorable Quotes: ''"If we encounter people that are gone, we're gonna have to fight, and I want you guys to know this. This isn't going to be a walk in the park by any means. Even if we find a way to get the collars off, or even to take on the terrorists running this game, it's not gonna be a picnic. It's gonna be a bloodbath, and all of us probably won't make it out alive. I don't want to sound grim and hopeless, but I want you all to know what you're in for. It's not... it's not gonna be all rainbows and butterflies, it's gonna be brutal. The thing is, we can either try to overthrow this fucked up game and see what comes of it, or we can all hope that by the grace of God Almighty, one of us survives out of the colossal number of people on the island. I just want you guys to know what you're in for... right here, right now. No matter what we do, it's gonna be rough. People are gonna die... we might even wind up killing our own friends... but this is the only way. We can't save everyone here, it's stupid to even try. If you guys don't think you can handle it, I want to know now. I'd hate to bid any of you goodbye, because I probably won't ever see you again if I do, but you need to know straight up that this isn't gonna be easy."'' - Ricky makes an attempt at rallying the troops, so to speak.

Other/Trivia

 * Ricky's middle name is Philipe.
 * Ricky's brother, age 16, is named Matt.
 * Ricky's appearance is based off of a high school crush of Megami's by the same name, although the personality between the two differs drastically.
 * His favorite color is blue.
 * Ricky is, coincidentally, #27 on the baseball team.

Threads
''The various threads that contained Ricky. In order from first to finish.''

Pre-Game:
 * Cheer Practice
 * A Lone Soul at the Bar and Grill
 * Unbreakable Bonds
 * Usurper
 * Memory
 * Mi Familia
 * Distraction and Diversions
 * The Study of Nature
 * For Whom the (Lunch) Bell Tolls

Version II:
 * The Sun Rises in the East...
 * Empathies and Desperation
 * I Would Walk Five Hundred Miles...
 * You Can Feel What You Don't See...
 * ...And They Say That a Hero Can Save Us...
 * You Can Feel What You Don't See...
 * A Brewing Storm
 * No Rest for the Weary
 * Unanswered Prayers
 * The Will to Live
 * Sin
 * Redemption

Your Thoughts
''Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Ricky Callahan. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!''